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STEVEN CANALS TO RECEIVE PRESTIGIOUS LGBTQ COMMUNITY AWARD AT POINT FOUNDATION LOS ANGELES GALA OCTOBER 13

Co-Creator, Co-Executive Producer, and Writer of Acclaimed FX Series “POSE” to Receive Point Horizon Award at Point Honors Gala at the Beverly Hilton

Los Angeles, September 13, 2018 – Point Foundation (Point) will present its Horizon Award to one of the most creative new talents in Hollywood: Steven Canals. The award recognizes a trailblazer who has taken a leadership role as an advocate of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community. Point Foundation is the nation's largest scholarship-granting organization for LGBTQ students of merit.

Information about attending or supporting Point Honors is at pointfoundation.org/HonorsLA18.

Canals, who identifies as queer, Afro-Latinx, and is originally from the Bronx, earned his MFA in screenwriting from UCLA in 2015. He began his professional writing career as a research assistant for Oscar-winning screenwriter and previous Point Honoree Dustin Lance Black. “Pose,” Canals’ groundbreaking and fierce musical drama about the ballroom scene in the 1980s, debuted on the FX network in 2018 through a collaboration with producers Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk. The show quickly earned praise from critics and fans and has been renewed for a second season.

“We all have a story to tell. And as a university student I honed the skills needed to communicate my story,” said Steven Canals. “But education is only one part of what it takes to obtain a seat at the table. You must have passion, be disciplined, and be fearless. The courage to tell my story comes from being part of a resilient and joyful community. I look at Point Foundation’s scholarship recipients, many of them trans and queer, Black and Brown, and I am euphoric to see a community of students thriving and telling their stories unapologetically.”

“As LGBTQ people, it was a long and arduous struggle to see ourselves honestly reflected in TV and film. Now, through the work of a new generation of talented creators like Steven Canals, we’re not only visible, but we have representations of the depth and breadth of the LGBTQ experience we can celebrate,” said Jorge Valencia, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Point Foundation. “This is the kind of fully actualized LGBTQ visibility our Point Scholars are bringing to their chosen professions, whether medicine, law, science, business or the arts.”

Additional celebrity participation for the October 13 Point Honors event will be announced soon. Past honorees include Lena Dunham, Jonathan Groff, Robin Roberts, Jill Soloway, and other allies and members of the LGBTQ community. Musical performances at Point Honors have featured Adam Lambert, Our Lady J, and Jussie Smollett, among others. Some of Point’s 97 current scholarship recipients and 300 alumni will be present to share their inspiring stories about how they have overcome challenges to get their higher education degrees. #PointHonors

Presenting Sponsors: Wells Fargo and Hilton National Media Sponsor: OUT

Media Contact: Eugene Patron, (212) 512-7807, [email protected] pointfoundation.org|facebook/pointfoundation|twitter/pointfoundation|Instagram/pointfoundation| # # #